The Ur-Quan Masters Discussion Forum

Ok guys, let's face it.

I think every one of us here who are totaly insane for Star Control hasn't gone without daydreaming of a visit by the Arilou, or a long chat with the Slylandro, in real life.

I'm not talking about the "probing" bit, mind you, that's far to complex and, well rude for me to understand why they would do that in the first place.

But, a lot of the races are so incredibly in-depth (Yehat and son, Melnorme, Z.F.P and Mycon, etc) that it does send hopes in my direction;

That some might actualy exist.

I would love to see contact with the Yehat and son (Shofixti), you could imagine the dialog.

Yehat:
Aye, it be a new race!

Human:
Yehat?

Yehat:
Yes but, how did you know?

Human:
Star Control 2.

Shofixti:
Star Control 2?

From then on, trade between the three races flourish, and sales pitches for Star Control 2 shoot through the roof, possibly smashing into some poor bird on it's way into the stratosphere...

Anyhow, discussions discussions, what race would you like to meet in real life, and do you think it might be possible that some of these might actualy coincidentaly exist? (I mean, the big-bang was *supposedly* the first thing in this universe, and scientists believe it made a humming noise, which links up to the Bhuddist belief of how the universe was created, they use near exactly the same sound for their most basic form of prayer/meditation. "unless I'm mistaken, of course.")

I want a little of whatever you're having. I'll spinkle a little
on my cereal.

What race would I want to meet in real life? Many of
the races in UQM are not very nice. So, hmm. I'll
go with the obvious choice: Syreen. The ZFP would
be fun guys to talk to as well.

Well, I'm torn between the Spathi, Arilou, Z.F.P, Yehat, Pkunk, Syreen, Slylandro, Utwig and Supox...

Of course, that is to say if they exist.

Mmm, this makes me wonder, how many other races were slave-shielded?

Races I would like the meet. Well from first to last: Androsynth(duh), Yehat, Arilou, Syreen, and Spathi.

You seem a bit scared about the Orz, aren't you?  ;D

Who was that to?

If me the Orz creep me out, especially because of my Androsynth affiliation. I guess that I would still like to meet with the Orz, just to see if I can make sense of there language.

The statement above was directed to anyone, because nobody mentioned the Orz, which would be Number One in my list... It's just so much *squishy* to chat with them, sad there is not even more dialoque...  ;)



Would be no problem, if you played the game, would it?  ;D

I can't imagine any meetings with the Androsynth would go well. After all, you are one of the opressors!

Also, according to the backstory in the SC1 manual, relations with the Syreen were pretty strained until the events of SC2. Despite the fact that they were "living, breathing pinups," nobody really trusted them because of their ability to control minds and their tendency to use it to acquire "willing" slave labor, even among their allies. It's why the majority of the old Alliance forced them to the fringes of their space. Of course, I can't imagine that relations wouldn't improve after the slave shield was removed from Gaia, at least towards Earth anyway.

Realistically, though, there are only a few species it would be wise to make first contact with: Chenjesu, Pkunk, ZoqFotPik, Supox, and Melnorme. The rest are too devious, unpredictable, or downright dangerous to realistaclly want to deal with in most cases.

Though, if I was skilled at piloting (and actually flying) a powerful war vessel, I *might* want to pay a visit to the Thraddash, if only to have the opportunity to direct the formation of their next Culture. ;)

You forgot the Yehat, I think they were our "first contact" with alien life forms, and considering the fact that, as Trader Greenish said;

"This galaxy has been destroyed and remade several times."

Then there might be no Ur-Quan, so the Veep-Eep Queen would not be evil.

Ok, I'm set, order from most wanted to least is...

Zoq-Fot-Pik - Love their "mansions." Want to watch Frungy, have a long chat with them, general chit-chat.

Slylandro & Pkunk & Yehat - All of them are awesome, 'nuff said.

Melnorme - Mainly because their honest, blunt, and true to their word.

I like Draxas' idea of the Thraddash, but I'd rather see the Melnorme than them.

The Yehat were our "first contact" with alien lifeforms? (except Arilou, of course, 'cause it's not really "contact")

I thought this were the Chenjesu!

Meh, never knew that, but they were one of the first I guess...

I can't believe I forgot the Slylandro in that list up there. :P

Anyway, yes, first contact (barring the Arilou) was with the Chenjesu. They initiated, and immediately asked Earth to join the Alliance. I suspect that this is the only reason Humans got along well with most of the other Alliance members. Would we have understood the Mmrn at all, for example? Would the Shofixti or Yehat have thought us weak and easy prey if circumstances were different, and we encountered them on a "peaceful" exploration mission? The story of first contact with the VUX shows just how easily something seemingly insignificant can make everything go straight down the crapper (even if the Insult is just a pretense).

 Why wonder. Back in BCE (Befor Computer Era) we played these fantastic games on paper with pecils and books.
 Ok...you all know what I am talking about...RPG. There are several Sci-Fi RPG out there that we can use to create the living SC universe we all crave. We have the source material on our computer... it just needs to be translated to a paper RPG system. MAybe I will invent my own...but it may detract from my current game.

That's a kind of backwards movement, since Paper RPGs (never really liked anyhow) aren't that good compared to some Video Games.

I have what you want (http://hkn.eecs.berkeley.edu/~mcmartin/gsc/).

D&D is fun enough, I like it when I can find a good DM.

I have to agree. Pen and paper role playing, when done properly,
will blow any video game out of the water because there
are so many less restrictions.

Gads, not GURPS though. Second worst system I've ever encountered. It takes forever to accomplish anything in-game. Players get bored, games die. Looks good on paper, fails utterly (in my experience) in practice.

I played lots of AD&D 2nd ed. years ago... I miss those days. And it's true, with a good DM and a player group that isn't trying to play "screw with the DM," pencil and paper can trump most video games with ease. However, I've encountered my fair share of bad DMs (and for a short time, was one myself; see that blurb on GURPS above), and they're much more common. Plus, developers who are willing to put in the time and effort can tell extremely compelling stories in electronic format; if nothing else, SC2 and Fallout are proof of that.

However, this brings up a kooky idea (which I'm occasionally known for, just check that crossover thread) which may or may not be appropriate for this site. Has anyone thought of trying to run a forum RPG set in the Starcon universe? We have a huge userbase here, some of which would be interested in participating, I'm sure. Just putting it out there, feel free to discuss.

That sounds like fun, but I’ve never played a forum RPG before; how does it work? Who would DM?

I would hate to plug a personal haunt, but I've run, and still do run, a couple of forum RPGs (one active, one on indefinite hiatus). If I can get an OK from one of the mods here, I'll post up a link to it.

Cool let us know.

If I recall correctly, I remember reading somewhere that the Yehat were impressed somewhat by humanity since they achieved spaceflight on their own without having been uplifted by another race. I'll do some digging to see where I got it from.

Also, the Chenjesu were humanities first contact with alien races. It was presumably them that gave humans hyperwave technology and introduced us to the other alliance races.

{Edit}

Found it http://starcontrol.classicgaming.gamespy.com/sc2/aliens/yehat.shtml

Perhaps the Yehat still might think highly of humanity for achieving spaceflight on their own, but without the first war, what wouls top them from simply seeing rivals, potential enemies, or just a race that is sufficiently advanced to give them an honorable battle? That's speculation, of course, but so is everything else here; a galactic war really changes your outlook on life. ;)

The Yehat may excel at combat, but there's nothing I've read about them that makes me believe they routinely go out of their way to antagonize other species. Honor does not exist only in combat, after all. I can imagine the Yehat seeing us as rivals, but not necessarily as enemies. It would depend on how the hypothetical relations between Yehat and humans develop.

Considering how well they developed between Humans and most of the other races that first contact was made with (see: VUX, Androsynth), I'd say the odds might not be as good as you think. :P

If ORZ existed and humankind will have a contact with them, everybody from this forum will be immediately offered a job of a translator ;)

I don't think it's fair to include the Androsynth on the list of botched first contacts since they weren't a separate species first encountered in space, but rather a type of human being who separated themselves of their own accord.

As for the VUX, they would have disliked humans no matter what. 'The Insult' was actually considered a very minor offense, at least compared to how ugly we apparently were to them.

Perhaps. But relations with both races show the true nature of humanity shining right through: petty, cruel, xenophobic, and violent. What makes you think any other first contacts would have gone any better? We might have screwed it up with the Chenjesu if it wasn't for the dire situation, and there's no telling what one of the more warlike races would have thought.

And yet it was a human who united both former allies and enemies to free the stars from the threat of the Ur-Quan. Not exactly a petty, cruel, or particularly xenophobic thing to do. Violence, it seems, is a trait shared by many other intelligent species in the Star Control universe. Not an excuse, but it does mean it's not a flaw borne by humanity alone.

Anyway, I'm not arguing that a first contact would necessarily go well. I'm just saying that I don't think it's likely that the Yehat would decide to erase humanity from the cosmos because of a few blunders. The Yehat acknowledge they have a pretty bloody history themselves, and seem to be pretty understanding when it comes to "young" species. Just look at the Shofixti.

If I could meet any of the SC 2 races I'd meet the:

Syreen (for obvious reasons)
Umgah (they could be funny though I wouldn't want to touch one)
Chmmr (I'm curious to see a silicon based lifeform)
Zoq-Fot-Pik (lets go see what this frungy is about)
Utwig (Since they're normally festive and fun, and who better to have on your side in a fight)
Yehat:  I thought they looked pretty cool, and I liked their theme music
Shofixti:  Same reasons as the Yehat

Anyway those are the ones I'd like to meet.  There are others that I wouldn't mind meeting but wouldn't seek them out.  Could someone please invent practical super-luminal spaceflight?

I remember on the OC Remix forums someone posted a theory a scientist had, that if you had strong ehough Electo-Magnets you could slip into a "place where light was much faster."

Hoping but not believing that this will happen.

Yehat, they certanly have an english acent. Umgah would be a crapload of fun. And a Chenjestu encounter would be a great learning oportunity

I dont see how a first contact with the Yehat would go badly at all.

Consider that the Shofixti actually attacked the Yehat despite their grievous technological disadvantage. The Yehat were impressed by this and adopted their species.

So lets consider that the Yehat were to come to Earth today, and land a terminator in say, Central Park in New York.

I could easily envision us sending in troops, tanks, helicopters etc. In my view they'd be impressed at our show of strength.

The only thing to my thinking at least that would give them pause would be the knowledge that we're still a divided race. We'd appear backwards since in their view we're still in the wars of Ascension (at a first glance, of course).

Chenjesu likewise I couldnt see a negative outcome. They're a patient, peaceful race with nothing to hide. They'd likely comply with any reasonable demands made of them.

Now if we're talking about First contact with the Druuge, then I see a very valid area in which contact might end badly.

Humans are arrogant idiodic transitory lunk heads of course but the way I see it, if we can make it through 30 - 40 years of the cold war without nuking one another into oblivion, I'm thinking we can handle ourselves with first contact with an interstellar race.

That depends heavily on which race, and who exactly is making first contact. I certainly wouldn't want Pat Buchanan to do it, and there are so many just like him... Lots of potential to screw it up, that's all I'm saying.

Anfd, being a native of the tri-state area, I'm not certain a Terminator landing in Central Park would be met with much more than mild curiosity at best, and total apathy most likely. Land it on the lawn of the White House, however, and we'll have troops enroute to the Yehat homeworld within a week. :P